Entangled Spirit
by Doomanator
Summary: Naruto finds a book in a Konoha library. Is this an innocent book? Or will this book unlock a deep, dark secret concerning the Demons? GaaraNaru SasuNaru KyuubiSasu YAOI
1. An Old Relic?

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Naruto, I do not make any money off this, this is for educational and fandom purposes only. 

**Entangled Spirit**

**Chapter 1- An Old Relic?**

_/Naruto sits down at an old desk, and on that old desk sat a book. When Naruto opened this book, he scanned through it until he hit blank pages. Picking up an old quill, he slowly and carefully began to write.../_

When I look back on my life and memories, they seem only mere fragments and mental images, just like everything else in life. Just like the picture shows on the television and the stories you hear year after year, passed down from father to child. But there are some Memories that stick in the brain like honey to a hive. For example, the memory of a certain sensei telling me that I was cursed with an entangled spirit. At the time I didnt know what it meant, but now, looking at my life, I cant seem to get the words out of my head.

It was about a year, after hearing about my 'entangled spirit,' that I found a certain book in one of the many Konoha Libraries. It was on one of the top shelves in the fiction section and blowing on the book, dust flew everywhere. Coughing and trying to get the dust out of my lungs, I stared down at the book in awe. The thick book seemed so tiny in my hands, most of the book was a dark shade of brown and in some area's almost black. It had certainly been around, as the pages were all tattered and weather beaten. I tried looking for a date on the back, or maybe even a name, but there was none. Thats when I felt something that I didn't notice, it had just suddenly appeared under my fingers. When the book was turned around, a burned in, red circle, with six dots was shown on the cover, the pattern around the circle was beautiful. It swirled around so smooth, yet the pattern was jagged. The circle was a bright red, unlike the rest of the book. I never once remembered the symbol when the book had first been pulled off the shelf, so I stared at the book cover for a few minutes until a smile rose on my face, 'I'm just thinking too much."

Books, at this time in my life it was one of my main joys. They were a great way to learn while escaping reality. Life was easy to forget when you have a bowl of hot ramen, and a great book in front of you. It didn't matter what type of book it was, I would probably read it. So I opened the book and just by the smell I could tell it was old. So I began to handle it so carefully, afraid that it would rip or chip in my hands.

As a young man, I had encountered, read and studied a lot of books within the past three years, but I never saw such delicate hand-writing, even the ink was something I had never seen before. I began to read the first few lines, and the way it was written was extremely difficult, something I would have to sit down for hours and figure out. My interest peaked at that very moment. Being the most hated boy in the village, and knowing that there was no way they would let me check the book out, I looked around to see that no one was near, and I quickly stuffed the book in my bag. "I'll have to read you later," I grinned, lifting the bag up onto my shoulder.

I immediatly began to search the top shelves for a book similar to the one I 'barrowed' but couldn't find one, so I went to the next bookshelf and looked there. There were tons of old books, but not one anywhere similar to the one that was in my bag. At this time it was beginning to get late, thick black clouds gathered in the sky, covering the lighter ones and making the library go three shades darker. Lightning struck outside, indicating a storm was on the way, but I ignored it. There had to be a book in this library that was somewhat close to the one in my bag. My search was soon becoming a waste of time, but I had aquired this weird determination all of a sudden, and so, I went with it. So enthralled in looking for a second book, I didn't notice the ebony eyes and matching hair sneaking up behind me.

The young man smirked and turned me around, but I was suddenly pushed so my back was pressed against the bookshelf. "Good afternoon, dobe," Sasuke said in an irritated tone, pushing me farther into the bookshelf, making the books fall onto the opposite side of the shelf. I looked up and saw the very eyes I wish I would never have to see again. "Not now Sasuke," I had muttered with irritation, attempting to push away, but his grip on me tightened, "I have somthing I wish to speak with you about." I sighed and went limp, causing him to drop me as I slid to the floor in a defensive mannor. I hugged my backpack and frowned up at the Uchiha, "what is it this time?"

Sasuke glared at me like looks could kill, but I could tell he wasnt that upset because he had not activated his Sharingan yet. "What the hell were you thinking back there?" He somwhat yelled, pointing behind him, I flinched as his voice grew louder, "Shhh! Sasuke this is a library, geez! And what the hell are you talking about?" I tried to keep my voice down, I knew that if any of the libaraians found us, and we were yelling, my ass would get burned. Sasuke's face went red as he clenched his fists, "the last mission we were on," he began quietly, "why did you spare that guy! He was the one we were hired to kill! I could have killed him right there Naruto!"

My frown grew deeper as I gave up, I could already tell the damn librarian was coming to see what all the fuss was about. "Look Sasuke, I dont see why you like to kill so much! We broght him back and he is to spend the rest of his life in that damn jail! But at least we didnt have to kill him, I dont like to kill and I dont like watching people die. If there is an alternative, even with great risk, I would take that path rather then ending a life...or watching you end a life," I stood up, getting ready to defend myself as Sasuke's eyes went red. Just as the Uchiha began to launch himself at me, the librarian came running down the hall, "what's going on here!" She demanded.

I grinned and Sasuke scowled at me but turned around and began to leave. "What do you think you are doing to Uchiha-Sensei?" She yelled, ready to kick my ass for so much as thretening the soul survivor of the Uchiha clan, the Uchiha Prodigy.. "Answer me!" She screamed again. I said nothing and put my hands above my head to stretch before the librarian took hold of my wrist. "Your coming with me," she demanded and noticed that the young Uchiha was gone.

The woman dragged me to a door and knocked lightly before walking in, all the while I could think of nothing else but the book in my bag. But there was a older looking man sitting behind a small desk cluttered with papers and books that distracted me.I seemed somewhat amused at how many scrolls and papers covered the walls, after all, I had never before seen so many in one room. There were tons of old worn books lining the bookshelves. It was a small room and it could have been lit better, but the old man's desk and all around that area was lit somwhat. There seemed to be a lot of different magnifying glasses heused for reading small print and they littered his desk. It was a fascinating place.

The old man wore thick round glasses on the end of his nose, his white hair frizzled out from the sides of his head and he had very bushy eyebrows that curled a bit at the ends. He was a very funny looking man, but he looked very nice, so at least I had that going for me. He looked like he carried great wisdom, maybe it was just his age, but by then, I was used to old farts like Tsunade and Jiraiya, so I wasn't in the least bit intimidated...but the book made me nervous.

The young librarian bowed and began to tell everything she had seen (which wasn't much, and some that never happened.) But I wasn't in the mood to argue with the witch, like the old man would believe me over her anyway. After she was done, they both looked at me with questions in their eyes. The old man cleared his throat, "Might I inquire as to wha you were thinking while deciding to partake in such...inappropriate behavior"  
"I didn't partake in anything! That bastard..." But I was cut off.  
"Even so, I can not allow you to step foot in this library again. Just be happy I am not willing to take it farther," the old man gestured to the librarian and she left the room to escort me out.

I didn't say anything further and left without scene. Although by this time, I was extremely tempted to tell them all to go to hell, but the better side won and I decided not to, what would it prove? Nothing I could say would change the old farts mind anyway, nothing I could do would change the fact that I was no longer welcome there. All I could think about was the book, and Sasuke, while Im never alowed to enter the library again, that bastard gets off scotch free! "Its a buch of crap I dont want to deal with," I said to the dark road as I walked on, trying to ignore the staring people and whispers I would always pretend I could never hear. Just then I looked up and smiled, "its not the end of the world."

Then, I felt a bounce in my step and it soon turned into a run. There were two more libraries and five book stores in Konoha that I could still visit. But I was much more anxious to get back to the apartment and take a closer look at the book I 'borrowed' from the library. It was still early and I had all day, I wasn't going to let it get ruined by the Uchiha.

When I got to the apartment, I swung my apartment door open. "Tadiema!" I yelled aloud and flung my book bag onto the small couch beside the door. I began to dig around, with little ease, I grabbed the book, marched into the kitchen, found a apple and headed off to my room. I was quickly seated at my desk and opening the book, took a big bite of my apple. But reading it was a lot harder then I had anticapated, every five minutes I would have to look up words in the dictionary. By the time I got past one page, an hour had already passed. But it was a extremely fascinating book, I could tell right away that everything written in it was true. After the first few sentences I came to realize that the book was about past ninjas and all the trials they went through. It was definitely hand written. But every entry had the same hand style and strange ink. It was very odd that the book was found in the fiction section. If the events in this book were true, then shouldn't the book have been in the non-fiction or history section? 'It was probably misplaced at some time or another...' I thought, turning the page.

I didn't care anyway, at this time, I was mostly amazed at the amount of jutsu's mentioned, I had never heard of more then half of them. It made me more eager to read on, maybe I could learn a few and kick Sasuke's ass the next time they were to train. Not that Ihad to try very hard to kick his ass anyway, I just liked doing it in a variety of ways, just to get back at him, just to rub it in his face. I smiled at the thoughts and turned the page.

A few lines down, I began having a strong feeling of nostalgia. "I swear I have read this book before...or maybe wrote in it?" I stared at the book for a long while, every hair on my body was standing strait up and every one of my senses increased by 10 fold. My ears were booming with noise, I could taste the sweat in my mouth and smell this old relic that should have fallen to ash many years ago. For some reason, panic consumed me then and tears began to fall from my eyes. All I could do was stare at the book in horror. But it wasn't the book that was driving this fear into me, it was something else. My thoughts came back to me in a flash and for only a short while, 'I need to get away...I need to get out!' I began to slowly force my body to move and soon darted out of the apartment, leaving the door wide open in my panic. I ran, knowing that I needed to get away from that book.

When I reached the edge of the Konoha forests, I sat under a tree and thought about what just happened back in my apartment. Most of all, I felt like a fool, like I was some five year old child afraid of some book. But it wasn't just the book that drove that fear into me. Actually, thinking back on it now, it had nothing to do with that book. I had remembered experiencing this kind of fear before...It was in that dark, dank place. That place where the gate stood, the very place Kyuubi was sealed. When that stupid Jiraiya pushed me off into those cliffs, just before I was too late, I asked the great fox demon to lend me his power for a moment. The kitsune laughed and thats when I threatened the wise kitsune. The fox demon agreed to lend me some of his power and thats when I was engulfed in flames. While those flames were consuming me, fear struck my heart at the very peak. But what was it that I was afraid of? Death was something that did not enter my mind while I was engulfed in the kitsune's flame. All I could remember was the intense panic I was in.

After hours of thinking and going over the book in my mind, it hit me. It had come back to me while sitting in that little desk, as if the book triggered those thoughts. But I shook my head, trying to get rid of the thought. But it lingered, not wanting to be forgotten in this time. "I need to talk to that old hag..." I said in a low, depressing tone.  
I really did not want to go and talk to the old hag about this, she would be sure to tell Jiraiya who would tell Kakashi who would blabber about it to every one in the village and then I will end up being more shunned and hated... 'What? They would just dispose of me...if it was just that simple. I wouldn't have to deal with any hate if I'm disposed of.' Then, I felt even more idiotic. I was running from something that I can never run away from. Shaking my head of all of that gibberish, I decided that I would go visit the old hag and see if they had any missions. Then maybe I would talk to her about other things...if I had the right feeling or if she wasn't busy...or moody.

When I reached the doors to the Hokage tower, it was past dark and I decided that maybe I wouldn't talk to her about the other things, and it would be better to wait. The Jounnin guards keeping watch recognized me and let me enter without question, but waved instead. So I waved back, a huge smile plastered on my face. Things were good now, why not be happy? He reached Tsunade's office and went in without knocking.  
"Wake up you old hag!" I screamed as he threw the door open.  
Shizune looked up in surprise, but smiled when she noticed it was me who had come barging in there. "Ahh, Naruto-kun! Come in, I need to talk to you," she said, over-joyed to see me.

I was surprised as well, but more angry, I immediately concluded that the old hag slipped away. Probably to go gambling all the villages funds away. "Where is-" I began to ask but was cut off.  
"Hokage-sama is in the village of sand, Shikamaru will be leading Kiba, Hinata, Sasuke and you to Sand where you will meet Gaara. Gaara will lead you to the Hokage and she will give you further instructions. You leave tomorrow morning at dawn, this is a B ranked mission so please be on your guard." Shizune explained.

My face beamed with excitement. I would be going on a mission! The last mission I had went on was two months ago, and that one consisted of finding that damn woman's cat again. This was a B rank mission, the only problem was, Sasuke would be coming along, but I can bear him for a while. There was one other thing that disturbed me, why was Tsunade in sand? The Hokage usually never left the village without hardly anyone knowing, and why was the mission ranked B when we were just going to sand? 'The ranking is probably because the Hokage is involved,' I thought, agreeing to the mission given by Shizune.  
She wished me luck and I burst out of the tower and back to my apartment.

Shikamaru was slowly walking to his next destination. He grumbled about what a burden it was to stop at all these places, he was out after dark and Ino was still just as over-protective as his mother. He shook his head and sighed, "how troublesome"  
Walking up to my apartment door he noticed that it was wide open. He then went on alarm and approached at a very slow pace, every step rang in his ears and he tried to walk lighter. The lazy Jounnin took one step into Naruto's 'home' with a kunai in one hand and the other on the doorknob. "Naruto?" Shikamaru called lightly.  
"Naruto!" He yelled louder, but got no answer. He quickly searched the apartment, but found no one. He concluded that there was no struggle, it looked like nothing was out of place...although he didn't live there so he wasn't sure. He decided that the best thing to do was leave the mission scroll on the table in the front room, then leave, closing the door behind him.

Shikamaru shut the door and made sure that he locked it.  
"Hey Shikamaru! ... What were you doing in my apartment?" I asked him, finding it suspisious that he was in my apartment and was just leaving. I had noticed that my door was wide open from the bottom of the stairs, so I ran as fast as I could to see if there was anyone who had broken in. That's when I saw Shikamaru come out and close my door.

"I wasn't doing anything in your apartment, I came to inform you of our mission but your doo-" Shikamaru tried to explain, but was cut short.  
My eyes lit up at the mentioning of the mission, "oh yeah! I know about that mission! I just talked to Shizune about it, by the way...so you have any idea why that old hag left the village"  
"No I don't... Anyway, I came to inform you of our mission when I found your door wide open. I went inside and checked, there's no one in there." Shikamaru finished explaining and walked away.  
"I will see you tomorrow morning at the tower steps." Shikamaru said, waving his hand.

I waved back and walked into my apartment, pacing pacing myself for the book that was sitting on my desk. But when I got to my room, I noticed that book, was missing. I looked on the floor and under my bed, maybe it fell when I ran out panicked. But it was no where to be seen, "Shikamaru..." I thought, jolting out of the apartment to track down the person who 'stole' my book.

Shikamaru, almost home and happy that he was done for the day heard my yelling from down the street.  
"SHIKAMARUUU!" I screamed as soon as I caught sight of the lazy Jounnin.  
Shikamaru slowed his pace allowing me to catch up but he gave me a weird look before asking, "now what"  
I then pointed a finger in Shikamaru's face, "playing dumb? I want my book back.  
"What are you talking about? I didn't see any book, or steal any book from your apartment. Maybe someone came and stole it before I arrived to give you the mission," Shikamaru suggested. I gave Shikamaru a suspicious look, not so ready to believe what Shikamaru was suggesting. Shikamaru was the last person in the apartment before I got home, and Shikamaru was the only person who I know that entered my apartment while I was not there. There was no proof that he did or did not do it and I began to get fustrated.

Shikamaru shrugged knowingly, "there is no way that I can prove I didn't take it, even if you were to check every bit of my clothing and find nothing, I could have easily stashed it somewhere on my way back. So there is no point in being later then I already am, but if I see your book I will return it to its rightful owner," he said before resuming his walking. "Oh yea..." He stopped and turned his head a bit, "What does it look like"  
"Ha! Like you don't know!" I was still not ready to believe a word that Shikamaru said. I had good reason to, Shikamaru was very intelligent and could have easily said all that to make me think he was helping me when he really stole it.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "ah, never mind then. I cant find a book if I don't know what it looks like and it will probably end up a bigger burden then its worth"  
Well, I didn't see any harm in telling Shikamaru what the book looked like, even if he might already know.  
"Its a small dark brown book, but its thick and heavy. It's very very old, please I need that book back. Its a very special thing to me and I-" 'What am I saying'  
"I hope that your able to find it." I finished, lowering my head. I hoped that either Shikamaru would give it back if he had the book, or if he found it return it to me.

Shikamaru smiled a bit, "yea, I'm sure we will find your book. Just don't worry about it so much, go back and double check your apartment, you might have mis-placed it." Shikamaru sighed and resumed walking once again, getting ready for Ino and the wrath that awaited him.  
I nodded, bowed and dashed off to check my apartment once again.

The sun began to rise from the east and I haddnt slept a wink. All through the night I had turned my apartment upside-down looking for that book, but it was no where to be found. I dontt know why I was so determined to find that book, it was just some old book. But it wasn't, this book was very important, but why did I know that? Why did I have this feeling of panic, somehow knowing that it was gone, lost somewhere where I could not dare go and find. Light filled the room and I looked at the scroll sitting on the table. Maybe it was stolen. I picked up the scroll and walked out of the door towards the Hokage tower where my team was probably there waiting. If I went on this mission with Shikamaru, Sasuke, Hinata and Kiba, I might find out who stole my book. But I knew that I would have to attend the mission anyway, I could not stay here and search for the book even if I wanted to. I could just see it now, Tsunade bitching the daylights out of me for not going, "I finally give you a B mission and this is how you show that your Hokage material? You ungrateful whiny brat!" I mimicked her with my tongue sticking half way out of my mouth.

As I approached the steps of the Hokage tower, I noticed everyone assembled and ready to go. So I smiled and quickened my pace, "Naruto! What took you so long, we were supposed to leave at dawn." Kiba complained, Shikamaru nodded in agreement and Hinata blushed.  
"Oh, I was looking for something." I began to explain and Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, 'was he up all night looking for it'  
Sasuke noticed that I was ignoring him, purposely not looking at him. He almost laughed with amument, 'I scared you that much eh'  
"Lets get going!" Kiba cheered and Naruto joined in. Shikamaru agreed and we all began our journey to sand. Within a few hours we wouldl be out of Konoha territory and we would'nt have the ease of mind that there might be an ANBU guard posted somewhere in the forest nearby. But this was nothing new to us, although some wondered why the mission was ranked B and we just began to live in peace once more. What was the reason Tsunade-sama left Konoha and went to sand without anyone knowing? Shikamaru didn't know that she left Konoha and he knew that I didn't know when or how she left either. As for everyone else, I couldnt say.

All during that day Shikamaru found a good time to ask each one if they knew certain things about this mission, he was trying to work in the dark and I didn't like it. But each person knew nothing. When Shikamaru asked Kiba he could tell that Kiba felt somewhat threatened, like Shikamaru was trying to accuse him of something. When he asked Hinata it took a little while to get anything out of her but she didn't know and was telling 100 percent truth. Sasuke simply just stated in three words that he didn't know and then walked away. So Shikamaru was still left in the dark and wasn't sure what he might or might not be up against on the way to sand. But no matter what, good or bad, he was going to keep every person alive during this mission.

Two days went by surprisingly very quiet besides Kiba and my chattering. Sometimes Shikamaru or Hinata would join in but not much. Most of it was Kiba and I, talking about the new moves and justu's we learned and how anxious we were to try them out. Hinata would mention how happy she was that it was quiet and that they haven't run in to anyone yet, she was not fond of people getting hurt, no matter who.

**WwWwWwW**

Sasuke was irritated, he didn't receive one glance from the blond during the two days they were into their mission. Naruto was stationed with Shikamaru and Kiba was with Hinata. Sasuke (of course) slept alone in his own tent. During the past two days, there was no opening or chance for him to even talk to Naruto. It was annoying, that stupid dobe was annoying. Sasuke knew that Naruto received great pleasure in watching him suffer, knowing that he cant do a damn thing in front of these so-called teammates who did nothing but get in his way with every little thing.

**WwWwWwW**

"Maaa! Shikamaru lets stop and make camp for the night," I whinned, the sun had set and the team grew tired after walking all day.  
"We keep moving, we get to the village in two hours." Shikamaru was restless, something was not right from the beginning of this mission but he couldn't put his finger on it. For the past two days he half-expected some sound nin to jump from around them and attack. But they defeated sound and Orochimaru a while ago and the chances of that were around one in ten thousand. Still, something was not right, the faster they got to sand the better. Then maybe he could find out what the hell was going on and why the Hokage left the village.

The few hours we walked before we got to sand was spent very quiet, besides my mumbling every so often. We all climbed a very tall dune, one we all know well. When we all reached the top Shikamaru and the rest of us were able to see from a distance, Sand was under attack. The tallest building in the city, the tower, was covered in flames.

**To Be Continued**


	2. Fall Of Sand

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Naruto, I do not make any money off this, this is for educational and fandom purposes only. 

**Entangled Spirit**

**Chapter 2: The Fall of Sand**

_/When they all reached the top, Shikamaru and the others were able to see from a distance, Sand was under attack. The tallest building in the city, the tower, was covered in flames./_

In one instant it was leveled and the tower of Sand was no more. "Damn it! How long do you think it would take us to reach the city?" Kiba asked Shikamaru.  
Shikamaru didn't move an inch, "three hours if we hurry, maybe two," he said with wide eyes. We all finally understood why the mission was ranked so high, but why would the Hokage leave the village and put her life on the line? She should have sent out a few ANBU squads, and stayed in the village. I was raging inside, who the hell did she think she was? She was Konoha's Kage and somtimes I wish she would act like it. 'Great, now im begining to sound like her.'

"Lets go find that old hag!" I yelled, finger pointed in the direction of the village.  
Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata, Sasuke and me, all took off, our main priority, get to the village and find the Hokage.

Shikamaru was surprised at the time they made, they arrived at the village in less then one and a half hours. But by the time they got there, half of the city was aflame. Shikamaru looked for any sort of moving sand, he figured Gaara was fighting. We all decided to split up, so we could look for Gaara.I headed to the fallen tower. Sasuke searched around the area we arrived, Hinata headed to the west side of the city when she spotted Gaara, but he was running the other direction. She screamed out for him, but the sound of the fire's were too loud and overpowered Hinata's voice.

Kiba decided he would head to the very middle of the city when he noticed a child run into an abandoned building that looked like it was once a small market. When he followed the child inside he noticed there were about five of them, alone and scared for their lives. 'Damn! I cant just leave them here!' So he eased forward and introduced himself, reassuring them that he was here to help.

As I began to approach the massive rubble and bonfire that used to be the tower of Sand, I overheard some people talking, "I don't get why we were ordered to stay here! We finished our mission! The tower is gone right"  
I ran behind a huge boulder, which I assumed used to be part of the tower walls and focused my ears on the conversation.  
"Well, you might get to fight, there is a huge possibility that Gaara and the rest of his men come back, that's why we were ordered to stay here," said a female voice.  
"Well, I don't like to stand around and do nothing while everyone else gets to have some fun," replied the male.  
"Shut up," spat the woman.  
I knew there were at least two of them, I didn't hear any additional voices, so I popped out from my hiding place, "what are you doing here in the village of Sand?" I demanded, just then I realized who was attacking. The two people standing amongst the ruble wore sound-nin hai-ate.  
The female smiled, "we have taken over this village and its people...or what's left of them," she began to giggle..

I didn't understand. We took the sound nin and Orochimaru out, they were gone, dead. I know this because I was there when it happened.  
"Why are you here"  
"I already told you that"  
"No, why are you here? We wiped out sound. How could you be here?" I rephrased my question.  
"Wait a minute..." The woman paused and looked over the blond.  
"Your that demon kid"  
"What?" The man standing next to her blurted.  
"Yes, I am that demon kid, and if you don't leave here, I will do the same thing to you that I did to that Orochimaru bastard!" I began to loose my cool.  
"What did you say!" The woman yelled, darting at Naruto with a katana in her hand.

I quickly made a seal with my hands and got ready for combat. But right when she was about to strike, a sea of sand flew by in front of me, taking the woman with it. "Such a nuisance," Gaara closed his hand, and in that swift second you could hear the woman's muffled screams. Gaara turned to the other sound nin who stood, wide eyed and full of terror he never knew he was capable of having. Three seconds later he was gone as well. In a big way, I was upset that Gaara killed them. But I knew how Gaara was and talking to him about it would never change it.

A few moments went by without words. "Gaara! What the hell is going on here"  
"We are being invaded by sound, or those of sound that you, Konoha, left behind... Tsunade-sama came here in secret to help set up the new Kage...but on the day of the ceremony, just as the Kage was announced, we were attacked. We were off guard and already short on men," Gaara explained.  
"When did they begin attacking?" Naruto asked.  
"Two days ago"  
Naruto was amazed at how long they held the enemy off.  
"Their numbers grew at a sick rate after you took care of sound. They figured that since Orochimaru killed our Kage, they should come and finish the job"  
"Where is the old hag"  
"She is underground, with the new Kage"  
I began to follow Gaara to the Hokage and then searched for everyone else to assemble, but there was one person who we could not find, Kiba.

**WwWwWwW**

Kiba sat in the basement of an old shop building, trying to keep the kids calm. Akamaru was a big help, Kiba wasn't sure if he would have been able to keep the kids calm without Akamaru by his side helping as much as he could. But during all the laughing and stories, there was one kid, a boy, who had a frown on the whole time.

Kiba crouched to the boy's eye level, "are you okay"  
The little boy frowned at Kiba, turned his head and began to walk up the stairs of the old shop.  
"Wait a minute! Where are you going?" Kiba asked.

Turning to Akamaru, he told him to stay and watch the kids. Kiba dashed off to stop the boy, "wait a minute! Stop for a second"  
The little boy stopped, back still faced to Kiba.

Kiba walked ahead so he could face the boy and bent down. The boy was crying, tears flowing down his cheeks, tear staining his shirt.  
"What's wrong?" Kiba asked in a kind voice.  
The little boy glared at the foreign nin, "playing stupid games isn't going to help our village!" He ran out of the store as fast as his little legs could take him, he was going to fight for his people, and friends. Kiba chased him, amazed at how fast the little brat was.

**WwWwWwW**

Tsunade sat on a small pillow, underground, in a small room, she was un-satisfied with my explanation on why we couldnt find Kiba. So she ordered Gaara to search for him, they didn't have time wait, they needed to take action.

"Follow me," she said, turning to the rest of the team.  
The Hokage lead us through a maze of underground hallways and tunnels until we came to a dead end.  
"Anou, its a dead end..." I said, wondering if the Hokage had gotten them all lost.  
"Shut up!" Tsunade snapped, and began to walk up to the wall, she put her arms up in front of her and closed her eyes.  
"What is she doing?" I whispered to Shikamaru, curious if he knew.  
Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and continued to the watch their Hokage.

Tsunade began to walk forward and was soon encumbered by the wall. Me, Hinata, Sasuke and Shikamaru stared wide eyed in amazement.  
"Where did she go?" I asked, taking a step near the wall.  
"Im right here, come on, walk through the wall," you could hear her talking on the other side.  
"What?" Shikamaru asked, mind boggled, he never before saw anything like it, 'a wall you can walk though'  
I frowned and walked forward, deciding that I would be the first one in the team to try and walk through this wall. I put his hands out in front of myself and closed my eyes. Taking a few steps forward I opened one eye, to see how far I was from the wall, but I was already though it.  
"Hurry up!" Tsunade snapped to the others on the other side and moved me out of the way.

Sasuke soon came through, eyes open and no hands in front of him, he was not willing to make himself look like a fool like I would so easily do. Then Hinata came though and soon after, Shikamaru followed. Then Tsunade was moving, once again, down the halls.

"What was that, that we went through?" I asked Shikamaru, who had no idea and just shrugged his shoulders once again.  
"Its a form of Genjutsu, a very special one created by the first Kage who founded Sand. There are tons of walls like that, and still not every one of them has been found. Sadly no one knows how he did it, people have studied it for years and still never understand how he did it," Tsunade explained, as if she was reminiscing.

After more long hallways, tunnels, and a few more Genjutsu walls, Tsunade stopped in front of a black door lined with gold. "The new Kage is in here," she whispered before opening the doors. Evidently she was telling us that so we would mind our behavior, which insulted us all a bit. Every one of us had been on more then a dozen escort missions where we've had to escort royalty or very important people, we already knew to present our best behavior.

Tsunade walked in and the rest of us followed, "they are here," she announced.  
All four of us bowed, "hajimemashte," we said simultaneously.  
"What's this?" the Kazekage said with a bit of irritation in his voice.  
"This is who I sent for. But if you are not satisfied I can always send them back," Tsunade said, very seriously, turning so she was facing the team that she put together to help stop this war before it began.  
"No, don't send them back, its better then nothing. Its just that I was ex"  
"What? An army?" Tsunade giggled, "No, I don't believe this situation is in need for any army, these five Jounins will stop the infiltration," she said, now with irritation in her voice.

"Five? I only count four." The Kazekage said, re-counting just to make sure.  
"The fifth has not been located, we are currently searching for him," Tsunade explained.  
"They just arrived and one's missing already! He's probably dead and your wasting your time searching for him"  
Hinata looked like she was about to burst into tears at the thought of Kiba dying. I saw the look on Hinata's face and thought of how Kiba lived though the whole sound war, this pathetic little man knew nothing.  
"How do you know he is dead?" I snapped, interrupting their conversation, which received a look from Tsunade and a glare from the newly appointed Kazekage.  
"Well, If he is dead," Tsunade continued, "I am positive that these four can complete this mission"  
"Who's dead?" Came a voice from the doorway.

Gaara walked fully into the room and leaned his back up against the wall. Kiba was still standing in the doorway, but there were about ten to fifteen kids standing around him.  
"Who died?" He asked again.  
My face lit up at the sight of him, "Kiba!" I yelled with a smile on his face.

Sasuke noticed the look of genuine happiness on my face when I realized Kiba was 100 alive, even if that happiness was there for just a second, Sasuke could spot it. A sudden pain grew in his chest and moved up to his throat. Why did he have to feel like this every time he saw me happy? He suppressed his pain and swallowed hard, closing his eyes in attempt to think of something else.

"An-ou...are you o-okay?" Hinata whispered to Sasuke who was standing somewhat next to her.  
"What?" Sasuke asked back, surprised that someone had been standing there the whole time.  
"Oh, well...you are very quiet..." She whispered in response to his question.  
"So are you," he said in a irritated voice, and she caught it.  
"G-gomen-asai"  
"Hey Hinata come here!" Naruto cheered from across the room where the kids where.  
"Hai!" She called and came running to him, looking back at Sasuke to see the expression on his face.  
Of coarse it was blank as she could swear it was her who he was staring at as she ran off.

I shot a glare at the Uchiha and made sure that he would catch it, but when Hinata turned her head back to me, Sasuke smirked at him and walked off, he figured he would go talk with the 'grown-ups,' Tsunade, the Kazekage, Gaara and Shikamaru while me, Hinata and Kiba stayed with the kids in the back of the room. Sasuke walked into the middle of their conversation.

"No! Where are we supposed to keep them? Underground? For how long? Who will watch them?" Tusande tried explaining,  
"Well what are you going to do with them? Throw them all up there to their deaths!" Shikamaru yelled, pointing up, outraged that the Hokage would propose such a selfish and arrogant thing.  
Sasuke frowned, "why are they here in the first place?" He figured they were talking about the kids that Kiba found.  
Everyone stopped talking and looked at the stoic boy in question. Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I mean, shouldn't we be evacuating the city"  
Tsunade frowned, "we don't have the time or manpower to do that, we have to take action. The only way to save these people is to eliminate the enemy"  
"Yeah, but that's impossible too, we don't have the manpower or resources to do what your asking, our only choice is to leave and take as many people we can with us," Shikamaru stated in a matter of fact tone.  
"What about Konoha?" Tsunade asked, knowing that if they fled, sound would just follow. Just thinking about what another attack would do to the moral of her villagers gave her a headache.  
"Then we fight them in Konoha!" I chimed in, "they wouldn't stand a chance in my territory"  
She glared at the boy, it wouldn't be that simple. Tsunade knew that it would be the end of her career, not to mention the village. Leaving this village and then bringing back an army of sound nin, she almost laughed at the thought, "no Naruto, its not that simple, we will fight here."

Everyone glared at her, everyone but Gaara, who said nothing and kept his eyes on the ground. Kiba on the other hand wouldn't stand for this, what was she thinking? What was he thinking? Sure she's a great doctor, but Hokage? No, this was going to far, "if you refuse to order an evacuation," he said in a low growl, "then I will begin to evacuate myself...I don't care if I manage to just get these kids out, at least THEY'll have SOME sort of chance..." The dog boy glared at Tsunade as he left the room with the kids.

Hinata felt a knot beginning to grow in her stomach and gave Tsunade a pleading look, although she would never dare say anything or talk back like Kiba did. No matter what she thought, Tsunade was still their Hokage and if it wasn't for this grouchy woman, the young Hyuuga wouldn't be alive today. Tsunade caught the look coming from Hinata and sighed, "go with him Hinata, make sure he doesn't kill himself," she said, shaking her head. One thing was certain now, she wasn't so certain on whether they could save this village or not. She had high hopes not even five minutes ago, but they were cut in half by Kiba and Hinata, although she couldn't blame Hinata, it wasn't the child's fault that Kiba was an idiot.

"Your just going to let them do this on their own?" I wailed, clearly not understanding the situation.  
"Yes Uzumaki!" she snapped, "I don't have the energy or time to stop or convince Kiba that we don't have enough time, I need you all here to help me, if not, then there is no hope and we should attempt to evacuate, but I think we might still have a chance." I glared at Tsunade, wondering whether I should go against her orders or not. I could at least stay and hear out her plan, that is, if she has a plan, which I was highly doubting.

"Naruto, you and Gaara will meet here," she ordered, pointing at a large map drawn out on the table.  
I nodded a few times and then waited... "then what"  
"Gaara will give you the details on the way," Tsunade looked at Gaara who still had his eyes glued to the floor, she frowned.  
"Gaara! Are you ready"  
Gaara looked up and then looked at Naruto, "hai," he said simply, "Naruto is to come with me to the town square and I am to tell him...on the way there"  
Tsunade nodded and dismissed them. The plan was being set into action and she became confident once again as she gave the orders to everyone else.

I ran close behind Gaara through the long winding underground tunnels, the entire time Gaara not saying a word. I began to get more anxious the higher we got. Soon enough I could only hear the sound of buildings falling and the running of people, I could hear the city being destroyed from above and my heart raced against my chest. "We have to make it to the middle of town?" I asked, not liking the situation.  
Gaara nodded, "that's where most of the sound-nin are located"  
"What!" It was too much to swallow, what were we going to do against so many nin?  
"Shhh," Gaara came to a dead stop and pushed on the ceiling a bit. Sunlight came pouring into the dark tunnel and blinded me. Sand began to fall in and Gaara looked out then looked back at me, "follow me."

This was going to be a problem, I couldn't see a thing and Gaara wanted me to follow him? Up there where chaos reigned?  
"Wait!" I yelled, but tried not to do it so loud, "hold on a minute, I cant see anything..." I desperately opened my eyes and tried to see if Gaara had left me behind. It took a few minutes but soon my eyes cleared up after moving them around and badly straining them. What I saw made me want to shut to them again. There was Gaara, he hadn't left hme behind, but he was giving me a weird look, "what are you doing"  
"Heh, I couldn't see for a minute," I asnwered, curious why he made the exspression.  
"Lets go," and Gaara was off, now he was sure that he wouldn't have time to explain things, he had less then five minutes to get to the middle of town.

**WwWwWwW**

Underground, Tsunade sat at a desk and bit her nails while staring at the clock, patiently watching each second pass by. She could only pray that Naruto and Gaara would make it in time. She was pretty confident in evacuating that part of the city. If things took a bad turn everyone would be able to go back and give the two back up. It was almost perfectly thought out, except for one thing.

"We should be leaving! They will find us any minute!" The 'new' Kazekage yelled in a panic.  
"You gave me permission to use anything against the enemy that I found in these tunnels correct?" Tsunade asked, turning her attention away from the clock and to the old man. "Uh...hai..." he said, his mind not functioning correctly due to the panic. Tsunade opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper, "sign this," she said in a demanding tone. The frightened old man picked up the paper and read it over, realizing what it was, he signed it.  
"We need to go," Tsunade opened the door and ran, the old man keeping up surprisingly well. "There is a tunnel that leads to a city exit"  
Tsunade nodded and followed the old man, still waiting...still waiting, she looked up at the tunnel ceiling.

**WwWwWwW**

I hurried behind Gaara at quick pace, no time to say anything on the way, what the hell was Tsunade thinking? Buildings were burning all around us, and smoke filled the entire city making sure to suck all the oxygen with it. People, women and children along with many sand nin lay still in the streets, eyes open, looking towards the heavens. Of coarse I was filled with a nauseating feeling, but I had been trained for this, it wasn't the first time I had seen so much death. Actually there was so much death in this world I wondered how anyone even survived in it. Gaara suddenly stopped dead in his tracks making me run into him at full speed. "Gaara?" I asked, unsure at the sudden expression on the red heads face. "Why have we stopped? We need to get to the middle of town!" I yelled, trying to snap Gaara out of whatever little dream he went into.  
"We don't have time," he said blandly as if he knew that they wouldn't make it in the first place.  
"What are you talking about!" I was clearly frustrated now, I didn't know what the hell was going on and everything around me was in flames.

Gaara didn't say another word. Sand began to pour from his gourd and into his hands. After the sand fell to the ground it revealed a black box. Gaara slowly walked to an open clearing and set the box down. I watched with curious eyes as Gaara lifted the top to the box and pulled out what looked like a cube. When I looked closer my eyes widened, it was a cube of explosion seals but they were not on anything else but one another. They were placed one over the other perfectly until it created a flawless cube. What kind of madness was this?

After Gaara placed the cube down, he backed away slow at first and then ran, grabbing me in the process, "I will explain all in a minute," he managed to tell me in a tone where I could hear while we ran. As soon as we got at least five miles away, Gaara begin to look for shelter but every inch of the city was filled with the thick intoxicating smoke.

"What the hell is going on!" I demanded, I was not going to stay in the dark any longer. I was not about to stay on the sidelines.  
"You know what that was?" Gaara asked knowingly, "if you do, then you know what our plan was, the problem is we were too slow and couldn't make it in time," he said staring out in the direction we had just come, "we need to get farther away," he said with a frown. But it was too late, everything shook around us and a deafening sound filled the air causing us to fall and cover our ears. Then it hit me, we were in hell.

**To Be Continued**  



End file.
